‘Burn Notice’ – ‘Made Man’: Oh, a wiseguy?

A quick review of last night’s “Burn Notice” coming up just as soon as I get to make up the codenames…

This one was all about the man, the myth, the legend that is Chuck Finley.

Finley is just a name Sam likes(*) and applies to all sorts of cover identities, but you get the sense that whenever he dusts it off, the writers are going to give Bruce Campbell something fun to play.

(*) Campbell has said Chuck Finley was the name of a friend of his dad’s, but I imagine someone on the writing staff was also a big Angels fan.

Here, it was a stone-cold killer, but what I liked about “Made Man” was that it didn’t just rest on Campbell’s scenery-chewing laurels and simply play the note of Chuck Finley, Monster. Instead, we got tension from Jesse mixing a piece of Sam’s real biography into the undercover character, and then that story enflaming the mob boss’s sense of Stockholm Syndrome until the plan fell apart. (And that gave us Sam’s discomfort at the idea of being the closest friend to a total psychopath.) Campbell can play big and broad, but he can also do well at smaller, more human moments, and he got a lot of both here.

“Made Man” also gave us some good spycraft tips (and inspired me to clean my lint filter). And while I don’t really understand or care about the larger story involving the evil organization Michael and Jesse are going after, that’s really a MacGuffin to put Jesse on the team and to let Michael slowly, unwittingly turn into the kind of self-rationalizing goon for Management who put him in this mess three years ago. I like this arc a lot so far.

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I love the new Jesse character. The foursome is a nice twist this season.

By: klg19

06.18.2010 @ 1:18 PM

Sharon Gless had some great moments last night, especially in that final scene.

By: evie

06.18.2010 @ 1:19 PM

btw – did you move? Guess I’m late to the news.

By: Anonymous

06.18.2010 @ 1:19 PM

I thought it was an entertaining episode. Any episode involvind Campbell at the crux of it is sure to no disappoint. I enjoyed it focusing on Finley, who of course is the best of Sam’s many identities.

As for the main story arc, seeing as how they can’t exactly get away with solely focusing on it, I’m more than fine with the episodic case of the week style episodes. They don’t fail to entertain (most times), and the introduction of Jesse is looking good so far.

Also, as Chuck had the boss guy tied up it reminded me of Dexter to some extent, which was nice. Overall Campbell did good in the episode and I thought it was good.

By: Steph

06.18.2010 @ 1:39 PM

Seeing Chuck Finley is generally always fun, and watching him sharpen the tools of his trade felt like a scene somehow paying homage to Sweeney Todd (was it the hair? The outfit? Bruce Campbell’s haminess? Probably all of the above). At the same time, it feels like the writers simply pull out Chuck Finley whenever they feel the need to give Sam a cover ID, and it’s starting to feel a little bit lazy to me.

Like you, Alan, I don’t really understand the evil empire Michael and Jesse are trying to shut down. (I also don’t buy Michael dropping such elaborate details of Sam’s old SEAL missions while the two are having a drink at the Carlito).

On the other hand, that final scene last night between Michael and Madeline was powerful stuff and definitely left me anxious to see where the story is headed next.

By: Deborah

06.19.2010 @ 12:33 PM

Sam is always undercover as Chuck Finley, but there are many many Chuck Finleys. And Charles Finleys. Though he seems to have decided after the first outing that all of them will say yes to a beer or whiskey.

By: Mark Jones

06.20.2010 @ 4:59 AM

One plot point I keep waiting (and hoping) to see is for someone they’ve burned–not all of them end up dead–to recognize them. Yeah, Miami is a big city, but it’s not infinitely large. And at least some of the circles they run in are fairly small.

I want to see a previous bad guy look across the street and see Michael or Sam or Fiona, and say, “It’s that guy! (or gal) The one who screwed me!” Cue the attempt at revenge…probably messing up another scheme at the worst possible moment.

By: Bernard Black

06.18.2010 @ 4:58 PM

I’m having a hard time buying Michael’s supposed angst — and his mother’s anger with him — over “burning” Jesse. Michael didn’t target Jesse, who was at worst collateral damage from the theft of government files. Yes, Michael was manipulated by Bunny Colvin — er, Management — to take them, but it’s not as if he set out to burn another spy. And of course he’s doing what he can to set things right at this point.

By: JanieJones

06.19.2010 @ 3:05 PM

I do buy into Mike’s angst because he didn’t know he was about to burn a CIA (as you stated). Michael (and friends and family) have been dragged through the mud since he has been burned and back in Miami. He knows what Jesse is dealing with and feels responsible.
Michael tries to protect Maddie and in doing so, she doesn’t see the full picture. She has a much better idea but he can’t sit her down and tell her the truth. Michael has demonstrated, time after time, that he will go to the mat for his family and friends.
It does bother him that his mother thinks a tad less of him in this episode.
Maddie has been shown (throughout the seasons) as a protective force. She feels protective of Jesse, knowing some of his back story.
I like the addition of Jesse into the mix right now. It adds, for me, another spark. Case in point-Jesse tells the mobster a true story of Sam aka Chuck Finley. Sam feels a bit violated as his personal life is off limits.
*I could not care less about big, bad management right now.
The show demonstrates it’s strength with Michael and co. helping the “helpless.”

By: alex s.

06.19.2010 @ 11:18 PM

There are a ton of holes with respect to Jesse’s “burn notice”, and in a spy/mystery show like this, you never know whether it’s just lazy/rushed writing or some critical plot element.

For Michael, the burn notice meant he got dropped in a (semi-)random city with no explanation and no one willing to talk to him. It seems like Jesse got fired for cause (security breach). Would the government really fire him for that? If it’s a real security breach, aren’t there some legal ramifications? Maybe there was some similar cover story for Michael, so they just routinely disbelieve. The regular crew seems to have bought into it (unless they secretly haven’t), so I guess the viewer is just supposed to accept it as well. In any case, it’s pretty hard to understand how it all lined up so quickly.

I don’t object to the addition of another character because it does shake things up for the existing cast (as Alan mentioned last week), but it seems like they could have done it more organically.

(There’s a small part of me that wonders if they were planning on doing this with the CIA guy Michael was working with last season but they couldn’t work things out because of the actor or some other behind-the-scenes details. Michael was building up a reluctant trust with that guy. Then he showed up in the season finale just long enough to fall off a building.)

By: justjoan123

06.18.2010 @ 6:23 PM

Now that anonymous Facebooker mentioned Dexter, I realized that Jesse bears a strong resemblance to Jimmy Smits’ character from Season 2, in that he cannot or will not stick to the Westen & Co playbook. Told to hang back by the hedge he will leap over it. Cautioned not to show his face he will stick it out for all to see. And to make matters worse, Fi likes his brand of problem-solving, chiefly because her first impulse is always to go for the kill shot.
Me being a charter member of the Do As Mikey Does Club, it has taken me much longer to warm up to Jesse, even though I’m with Mom, pretty much all the way. (And may I just say how much more I’m liking the clued-in Sharon Gless over the clueless.)

By: justjoan123

06.18.2010 @ 6:23 PM

They like this

By: Jim

06.18.2010 @ 6:30 PM

I can’t say that I’m buying this arc because I just don’t think that Michael is that dumb.
Spoiler Speculations ahead

Michael Ironside isn’t dead. We’ve seen Michael fake out his targets with fake blood and squibs and death. It just doesn’t make sense for Bunny to shoot someone in the leg just 30 seconds into meeting him. This guy may be more brutal than Michael, but he’s got to have some restraint. Also TV Tropes calls Michael Ironside’s guest appearance a “Narrowed Down to the Guy I Recognize.” It usually is applied to a murder mystery where you guess the murderer based on the fact that you pick the most famous guest star who doesn’t have a lot to do in the episode. Michael Ironside is too famous and expensive to fly down to Miami just to do a two-minute cameo. Therefore his death was faked to convince Michael that he’s dead the mysterious villain is someone else.

Anyway, back to my original thought. This whole arc seems to me to be generated from plot requirements, and not out of character. I’m not as happy with it as you are.

By: M.A.Peel

06.18.2010 @ 7:10 PM

I thought it was too much of a leap for Madeline, or anyone, to get that Michael had burned Jesse simply by a look on his face. And I agree that it was a false note that she would be so angry. If she really is so “clued in” she would get that Michael was duped into doing it. It might have made sense for her to try to convince M. to tell Jesse the truth now, so that they can work together about the Big Bad that put them both in the situation.

I’m enjoying it, but the holes are getting bigger.

By: justjoan123

06.18.2010 @ 7:24 PM

Well, since I seem to be crediting Maddie with greater powers of intuition than even I had thought, perhaps I can explain a bit while I’m backpedaling. I do not think she got all of the situation from a single look, but the Madeline of this season has had more experience with Michael than her former self. The self that went for years without a word or a birthday card. This Maddie had been used and abused by Michael’s enemies and has, at last, been taken some way into his confidence. Now she is in but also out; that is, Michaeldoesn’t conceal as much from her, such as his need to conduct doubtful business as well as his Good Samaritan turns,but she is now aware that he is concealing something he considers likely to lower himself in her estimation. And his. And that something, once she hears from Jesse something of his back story, is all about Jesse. She may not be a rocket scientist, but at least 50% of the DNA went into making Michael Michael is hers. Yes?

By: Gill0270

06.18.2010 @ 7:38 PM

Charlie Finley owned the A’s not the Angels.

By: sepinwall

06.18.2010 @ 9:05 PM

Yes, and Chuck Finley pitched for the Angels. Two different guys.

By: mike

06.19.2010 @ 1:20 AM

Actually they were all just Bruce Campbell.

By: nfieldr

06.19.2010 @ 5:48 AM

And not to be confused with Steve Finley who was an outfielder and not a pitcher around the same time frame. And who also was not beaten by his wife, Tawny Kitaen, with a stiletto as Chuck was.

By: Tony M

06.18.2010 @ 9:44 PM

My first episode…not sure what to make of it. Is this the standard fare? Was not exactly knocked out by it.

By: mike

06.19.2010 @ 1:22 AM

Why don’t you start from the beginning and see?

By: teacher

06.19.2010 @ 3:01 AM

I find that adding the extra person takes away from the dynamic of Michael, Fiona, and Sam. It’s not like a guest star who isn’t in every scene. Jesse seems like an unwanted appendage to me. And I agree, the story line seems contrived. I like the old formula better. And I would like a LOT more of Sam. I’d like to see a story where his wife reappears and they rekindle some kind of relationship.

By: Deborah

06.19.2010 @ 12:30 PM

I was wary of a fourth after the Shaw disaster on Chuck, but Jesse is fitting in well. Like Alan, I like the arc of Michael edging closer and closer in what he’ll do for Management–foreshadowed a bit with his distaste for Strickler which was eased in with “hey you’d need to take care of Chechik,” “hey it’s just taking a few photos.” Management gave him a greater good project that appeals to both former patriotic spy and present do-gooder vigilante Michael. But he better figure out soon that management burned Jesse on purpose. Having convincingly set up “Michael can’t tell Jesse because Jesse would vanish and go lone wolf against him and Management and Cobra,” I certainly hope they later swerve and keep them convincingly together against management.

Nice to have management recede in this episode.

There’s a nice moment at the beginning where Fi says “I like him” after he saves the security guard, and Jesse looks a bit worried, like “wait, if Fi is 100% on board with my idea maybe I need to reexamine it.”

By: Liz

06.20.2010 @ 11:23 PM

I thought Bruce Campbell did a great job with this episode, particularly when it came to the effects of Jesse throwing some of Sam’s personal life into the mix (as Alan noted).

I’m still not sure about Jesse. I don’t think it’s the character (or the performance of the actor), it’s more a matter of how he fits into this group. Or doesn’t, yet. When I watch lately, it’s a little like I’m looking at a puzzle piece, wondering where it’s supposed to go.

Something I did appreciate was the use of Maddie as a means of letting the audience in on who Jesse is as a person. I think that helps. And I genuinely liked how sharp she’s becoming, and the affecting scene this led to at the end between she and Michael. I got a big emotional punch out of that.

Overall, an enjoyable episode, and I think the season is picking up steam as it goes along.

By: Jen

06.24.2010 @ 7:31 PM

My gut is telling me that the whole Jesse arc is a set-up. That Jesse isn’t an actual burned spy, but a plant from the beginning for Management to get someone into Michael’s inner circle. This gives them more direct knowledge of what he’s up to day-to-day, a way to manipulate him into really caring about the mission Management wants done, and a person in a position to move the chess pieces around if he needs nudging. I think he’s trying to create a situation in which Michael is all alone, with his friends on the other side. It’s a logical progression given their group and the trust they have for eachother: that’s what makes them so successful. But look at the progression: he started with Madeline. As if a guy like him would really get into all this “burned spy”/revenge stuff with her? I don’t buy it! He planted that info deliberately to create conflict between Madeline and Michael, sowing the seeds of doubt. I think Fi might be next… She’s been awfully intrigued by the new hottie who likes to defend women and poor slobs from getting beaten up.